USA > Indiana > Madison County > History of Madison County, Indiana, from 1820 to 1874 : giving a general review of principal events, statistical and historical items, derived from official sources > Part 14
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The real work of the educator is to develop the latent powers of the intellect where they exist ; but no amount of leading out will show striking results where there is nothing to lead. Tact in the teacher will not give capacity to the student. You will find the student constantly mustering antagontistic forces in his own mind. A true and a false prin- ciple will take possession of the mind at the same time, and for you to instruct the student how to retain the true one and to extirpate the other will be your first obligation. Not that you should commence cramming him with some- thing else, but to bri. g into play his own powers, so as to effect a solution himself. Comparisons of words and ideas will occupy a considerable portion of the student's life. In some of these word contests, which come within the range of our experience, and which are very entertaining and amusing, we find the most perfect exhibitions of ready wit. It is not the amount of knowledge, the number of facts or statistics which a man has in his cranium, that makes him
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a dangerous antagonist, but his ability to marshal them and bring them to bear instantly on any point. This thought may be illustrated by reference to the "wit combats" between Ben Johnson and Shakspeare. "The two were like a Spanish great galleon and an English man-of-war. Master Johnson, like the former, was built far higher in learning ; solid, but slow in his performances. Shakespeare, with the English man-of-war, lesser in bulk, but lighter in sailing, could turn with all tides, tack about, and take advantage of all winds by the quickness of his wit and invention." Johnson expressed his weight of character in his extensive book learning ; Shakspeare, in his quick perception of the varied phases of life. Johnson could talk fluently and lengthy upon abstract propositions ; Shakspeare of the passions, impulses and wanderings of the human heart. The one was masterly in counsel ; the other brave in the field. Shakspeare, like the skillful, ready general, when the lines of the enemy would waver at any point, or were broken, would thrust in a batallion or brigade, and thus pave the way to speedy victory. So the ready disput- ant will make a telling thrust with his strongest points where no one else would perceive the faintest glimmer of hope. His two-edged sword will cut " fore and aft " quick as thought ; the opponent will sink under it, and as a fallen foe, will " bite the dust."
I presume every man has some power in his individual make-up, which gives him a special influence in the direc- tion of that power, but he fails in many instances because he does not use it just when he ought to do so. He is like Artemus Ward respecting oratory. " I have the gift of oratory," says he, "but I havent it about me!" How often do we have splendid opportunities to immortalize our- selves in oratory, or to astonish the world by some intel- lectual effort, but our power don't happen to be about when we want it. What a telling speech that young law- yer would have made before the court in an important case it he could have had one more day for preparation. How he could have swayed the jury! How he would have
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touched the hearts of a sympathetic audience, could he have had time to have constructed a few well rounded periods. And how he would have exposed the sophistries of the opposition if he could have had a little time to consult his logic and refresh his memory in syllogistic statement. Alas ! how important, how unprepared for an emergency. I could multiply references to such cases, but let this one suffice as representative of all the others.
As teachers in the common schools of our country, you have a laborious work entrusted to you. You are training undying spirits for usefulness in this world, and eternal, beatific joys in the boundless future. Your work is to dignify our natures. You, so to speak, take the rough unshapely rock from the quarry, and by sawing, chiseling, smoothing, you fit it for the stately edifice. So by the inimitable chiselings of the school curriculum, the rubbings against the rough edges of society, and the meliorating influ- ences of the refined and polite, are we prepared for work and responsible positions. The diamond taken up from the river's bed by the pale diver, when properly cleansed, will sparkle with dazzling brilliancy in the princely crown. So the human intellect, when freed from the encumbrances to which it is frequently subjected, may sparkle among the constellations a star of the first magnitude. Work-con- stant, effective, unceasing work, is the watchword. As the poet expresses the thought :
" We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; In feelings, not in figures on a deal.
We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives, Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best. Life is but a means unto an end; that end, Beginning, mean, and end of all things-God."
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MANAGEMENT OF OUR COMMON SCHOOLS.
An Essay Prepared and Submitted Under the Rules and Regulations Adopted by the "Herald Prize Essay Committee," which was Chosen at the last session of the Madison County Teachers' Institute.
BY CYRENIUS FREE.
The subject of school government is one which, though of much importance, has been discussed from time immemorial to the exclusion, frequently, of matters of far greater moment. Fortunately, the more comprehensive term, "school management," is now engrossing the attention of educators; " and, even this has, heretofore been mainly discussed by teachers engaged in the highest grade of schools, adapted to the necessities of those who propose to spend their entire lives in the acquisition of knowledge, and make their superior attainments a basis for their entire pecuniary employment ; hence, many of the finest essays are only in part applicable to our common schools, established for the benefit of the laboring masses.
DEFINITION OF TERM.
" Management," according to Webster, consists in the " manner of conducting or carrying on," hence, when applied to schools, includes the entire duty of the teacher ; which should be conceived and executed in accordance with the dictates of wisdom ; the first, best, noblest attainment of man ; and which is defined by our great American author to be " the proper use of knowledge; the choice of laudable ends, and of the best means of accomplishing them."
The subject, then, of school management, viewed from this standpoint, is fully included in the answers to the fol- lowing interrogatories : First, what are the laudable ends to be attained by our common schools ? Second, what are the best means of accomplishing those ends ? The answers to one of which is evidently so connected with and depend- ent on the others that no rational rules can be laid down with
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reference to the latter, without well fixed and compre- hensive views, of the former ; and here, we fear, is where many educators make the first grand mistake, which inevit- ably leads to many gross errors in practice.
OF EARLY IMPRESSIONS.
Every day experience teaches us that relics of the past, the education of our childhood, and impressions handed down to us by our forefathers, are difficult things of which to divest ourselves. They cleave to us and influence us, when we are the least aware. We read with a pride, almost akin to veneration, of the palmy days of Greece and Rome, of ancient oratory and lore, and imbibe the impression that a school is a great success, because it turns out one such scholar as Plato, Demosthenes, or Cicero. For at that time such men ruled the nation, judged for the nation, spoke for the nation ; hence, we judge the nation by them as models, and are mutually inclined to call that nation great and intelligent because it is in possession of such men. Our colleges and high schools are frequently conducted on this basis. The supposition being that a diploma is of but litle consequence to the medocre, the design being to manufacture statesmen, politicians, philosophers, or some other prominent pro- fession.
THE TRUE AIM OF THE COMMON SCHOOL.
But the United States have created a new era in politics, and a new era in education is a necessary concomitant. The object of our common schools is not to rear up here and there a great man to speak for and be venerated by the nation, but to make a great, moral, high toned, intelli- gent nation. This thought is beautifully expressed in the following extract from a speech of Daniel Webster :
" We hold every man subject to taxation in proportion to his property. We regard it as a wise and liberal system of police, by which property, life, and the peace of society are secured. We hope to excite a feeling of respectability and sense of character by enlarging the capabilities and increas- ing the sphere of intellectual enjoyment.
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" By general instruction, we seek to purify the moral atmosphere. We hope for a security beyond the law, and above the law, in the dissemination of enlightened and well principled moral sentiment. We hope to reach and prolong the time when, in the villages and farm houses of this coun- try, may be undisturbed sleep within unbarred doors."
HYGIENIC CULTURE.
And since, as we have seen, it is not the design of our pub- lic schools to educate and manufacture political demagogues and traveling humbugs, but to educate, to refine, and to elevate to a proper standard the masses; that intelligence may be made to yield its fruits in the more necessary pur- suits ; that the most expanded intellects may exercise their talents in contending with the natural elements that impose themselves in the way of man's profession and happiness. Such, for instance, as turning the soil with the plow-share to make it yield under a more enlightened system of hus- bandry a more bountiful supply of its luxuries; or, in wielding the heavy sledge at the forge, where the most scientific designs will be futile without an energetic nerve and strong muscle to put those plans into execution. The hygiene of the school room is, necessarily, one of the first prerequisites for a good school.
The room should be kept well swept to avoid injury to the eyes and lungs from dust. No student should be so seated that the light on entering the room can directly pen- etrate the eye ; but it should be made to fall first upon the book, thereby making objects more distinct, and entering the eye after the rays have been softened by reflection.
The teacher should devote the strictest attention to the temperature of the room. And when a proper temperature has been reached, the fire should be replenished frequently with but a small amount of fuel at a time, that a regular temperature may be maintained ; never allowing the fire to burn so low that a sense of chilliness warns him that it re- quires his attention, which will inevitably result in the build- ing at once of too hot a fire in order to expel the chill, whereby the opposite extreme is reached, pro-
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ducing the very deleterious result of a constant alteration of heat and cold. From a half an hour to an hour before dismissing at night the fire should be systematically reduced as low as it is at all consistent with comfort. All perspi- ration will then have ceased, the pores of the skin con- tracted, and the pupil not be subject to so sudden a change in passing from the room into the bleak winds, or, perhaps, the chilly rains of winter.
Pure air is one of the indispensable supports of every physiological function of our economy. Hence too much stress cannot be laid on the subject of ventilation, which should never be procured at the bottom of the window, but always at the top for the double purpose of avoiding a direct current of cold air on any student, and to permit the escape of the impure air which has become rarified by be- ing warmed in the lungs and ascended to the top of the room.
During recess the teacher ought to encourage a reason- able degree of hilarity and physical exercise, not only as a respite to the mind, but to educate and invigorate the mus- cles, to qualify them for the varied duties of life, and ren- der them competent for any duties assigned them.
ORDER,
One of nature's first laws, ought not to be neglected in the school room; though that death like stillness, so much boasted of by some teachers, which borders on gloom, and produces a feeling of restraint ; a fear to change position when the limbs have become restless and weary, lest the ever watchful eye of the teacher observe and frown with disapprobation, is not, in our opinion, consistent with the laws of physiology, conducive to mental activity, or in any respect necessary. Nevertheless, we are of the opinion that such a degree of silence should be maintained, as will enable each student to pursue his or her study and indulge in the most abstruse thought, without being confused or having his mind divided by unnecessary noise ; more than this is not advantageous. But quiet is only a modicum of order in
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a school room ; since it is the design of our schools as here- tofore seen, to introduce culture among every class of com- munity, and do away with that dislike which attaches to rural pursuits on account of the lack of mental and social culture that has heretofore prevailed among the laboring classes, all that makes the
LADY OR GENTLEMAN,
(not the flirt or fop, but the real), comes within the domain of order in the school room. The pupil should be taught loyalty to just and and wholesome laws; such as the prohi- bition of acts low and groveling ; the interferance in, or trespasses upon the rights of a fellow pupil ; of impertinence to each other, in short, of everything not dignified and worthy ; for the farmer or mechanic, though dressed in the garb suitable for labor, may be as genteel and companion- able as the professional man; henee, all awkward positions in sitting or standing, calculated to deform the spine or make the pupil appear awkward or bungling, such as sitting at the desk with the spine arched until the shoulders form the summit of the person, standing cross legged and leaning against the wall to recite a lesson ; and many others of, per- haps, less importance, should claim their share of attention and culture.
MANNER OF ENFORCING OBEDIENCE.
Thus far, perhaps, nearly all will agree; but on the man- ner of enforcing obedience to these rules; there is more difference of opinion, more wrangling, even bitterness, and anger displayed, than upon any other one sub- ject connected with our common schools, and in my opinion, more impediments thrown in the way of gen- eral progression than by all other means combined. Some advocate brutality. Others claim that all punishment is degrading, and demand its abandonment. The teacher may render himself popular with some by being tyrannical and abusive ; with others, by being good, easy, good-for- nothing ; by letting matters pursue their own course ; flat- tering the pupils and telling them that they have done well
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whether that is consistent with the facts or not. But it is not the province of the teacher to make the discovery of public opinion, and then acquiesce, thereby lending his influence to the propagation and confirmation of error, which would certainly contravene and render abortive every laudable end to be attained by our school system; but, to have well defined, comprehensive views, based on investiga- tion and experience, and then put in practice as well as teach correct principles, and thus be an instrument in the hands of the friends of progression, instead of a lickspittle in the hands of ignorance and prejudice.
PUNISHMENT-ITS OBJECT AND ADMINISTRATION.
Punishment properly applied, instead of being degrading has a divine origin. Diety has attached a penalty to every law throughout his wide domain. A law without penalty is like a vacuum, repugnant to nature's every revelation. If we place our hand in the fire, nature at once inflicts the penalty, severe pain, thereby admonishing us of the viola- tion of law and warning us to desist. If we leap from too high an elevation, in defiance of the law of gravitation, the death penalty is at once inflicted; not that our Maker delights in our destruction, but to warn others not to follow our example of disobedience. And these penalties will never be repealed. Wisdom saw from the beginning that from the nature of man a restraining influence would be necessary as long as man inhabited the earth; hence, made these laws perpetual.
And it is our opinion that we never will arrive at a period, when we can entirely dispense with penalties for the restraint of youth, either in the school room or family, or of adults in society. But the teacher should discriminate between
PUNISHMENT AND VENGEANCE.
The latter has its origin in a depraved nature; it is the spirit of a fiend that would drag a saint down. The former springs from a bosom filled with philanthropy, love toward the child, a desire to correct his errors, and to make him a
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more respected and a happier man. But with regard to the manner of punishment, no positive rules can be laid down. The cases are too varied to allow of dogmatical rules. The teacher is compelled to act in each case in view of all the circumstances, guided by a cultivated judgment and sound discretion.
Some pupils require no punishment. Some may be reached by an appeal to their judgment, by showing them that it would be to their own advantage to pursue a differ- ent course. Some, by an appeal to their pride. To some a look of disapprobation is a severe punishment, and is sufficient to keep them under proper restraint ; some may be of low degree, perhaps sordid ; and then it is the teach- er's duty to tax his ingenuity to its utmost, in the endeavor to discover some chord in his nature which may be made to vibrate, whereby his better nature may be made to assume control, and he be elevated in the moral scale as far as prac- tical. But, if after mature deliberation and the teacher's best endeavor, it is discovered that his deleterious influence upon the general average, more than counterbalances the personal benefits to himself, then expulsion from the school might be advisable. But it should be fully appreciated under all these circumstances, that no penalty of law is, or should be, inflicted with intent to punish or cause pain for what has been done; but with reference to future good, by preventing a repetition of the culpable acts; farther, that the school-room government can not be divided after the manner of our republic, into a law making, a judicial and an executive department; but all three departments must be exercised at once by the teacher ; in other words, that the school is necessarily an absolute monarchy, and the teacher the sole monarch ; yet we must not confound the word mon-
, archy with tyranny it is not the posession of power, but the abuse of power, that constitutes tyranny.
Such, then, are the laudable ends to be attained by our common schools. To present to the world the as yet unknown phenomena of a nation of cultivated, intelligent farmers and mechanics. In short, to pervade every sphere
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of life with such a degree of intelligence and high-toned moral integrity as will render every useful avocation both honorable and pleasant, and thus remove not only the necessity but every incentive which has heretofore induced every individual who was so fortunate as to acquire a reason- able amount of mental culture, to forsake the plow or shop of the mechanic and turn political trickster, or something else, where he imagined that he could sustain himself off the labor of the less cultivated classes, and to enable such to find a more laudible appreciation of their talents in the use- ful avocations of life.
THE FIRST LESSON.
And the first lesson to be learned from the above is that the school ought not to be conducted with special reference to the interests of any particular scholar or class of schol- ars ; but in that way that will result in the greatest amount of good to the greatest possible number, independent of the financial or social standing of parent or pupil. If the pupil be a natural genius give him a full share of your attention and care that his ten talents be multiplied, and that he become a light in the world and a useful member of society ; if he be below mediocrity, do as much, for you will thereby make him more useful to his race, and give an impetus to general progression; if he be rich, strive to make him intelligent, for wealth in the hands of the intelligent philan- thropist is a great blessing to society ; if he be poor, strive none the less; for then on his intelligence and moral integ- rity will depend his usefulness to society and his own hap- piness; if he be low, base, or even sordid, then, on his proper culture alone will depend, not only his own temporal and eternal welfare, but the peace and safety of society around him.
TEMPERAMENT OF PUPILS.
Under the above view of the subject it becomes the duty of the teacher to study well the natural temperament of each and every pupil in his school; and for each violation to
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adopt such penalty as will produce the very best effect upon the violator, with strict reference at the same time to the moral effect on the school as a mass; and here is a field large enough to exercise all the wisdom of a Solomon or a Solon, and no outside interference can be of any service, ou the contrary, every attempt thereat will but throw obstacles in the way of the successful management of the school.
OF INCOMPETENT TEACHERS.
What, then, it may be asked by many honest patrons of schools, shall we do if we have a teacher who, from lack of age, experience, or from any other cause is not competent to exercise such absolute authority ? To this we would say, emphatically, there is but one answer. Give him your cor- dial support, but watch narrowly his proceedings, and when you, without prejudice, have honestly determined that the teacher is incompetent, dismiss him and make a better selec- tion next time. The principal controlling power to be depended upon, in fact, the only one allowable for the mass- of the school, is the respect the pupil has for the teacher ; the subject of penalties applying only to the exceptions, who are incapable of being controlled by their finer feelings ; hence, when the parent commences fault finding in the pres- ence of the pupils, they render it at once impossible for the teacher to retain the respect of the child against the influ- ence of the parents, and thus disarm and totally disqualify him for a proper discharge of his duties.
VARIETY CHAPTER.
E. In the following chapter will be found a number of inci -- dents within themselves not considered of sufficient impor- tance to form separate articles. The Author has concluded to group them together, thereby forming, as he hopes, a chapter worthy the perusal of the reader. The day and date will not in every case be vouched for, but they are thought to be correct.
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In 1860, Able Johnson was found dead near Huntsville. He had been in usual health. He was in his seventy-first year.
In 1855, Peter Runnels fell through the railroad bridge at Anderson. Was killed.
In 1866, a terrible accident occurred at the railroad bridge at Frankton. Two persons were killed and three wounded.
In 1864, John Burk, an Irishman, was killed by a blow of a hatchet, in the hands of another Irishman, on Ohio avenue, Anderson.
In 1866, young Traster was killed near the Moss Island mills in a dispute with some young men who were intoxi- cated.
In 1852, Morris Gilmore's son, aged eighteen, was acci- dentally shot at a shooting match in Adams township.
In 1859, Sheriff David Watson was stabbed in a house in Anderson, and killed.
In 1855, Alfred Riggs hung himself in Adams township. Cause unknown.
In 1850, a boy, aged twelve years, son of Mr. Antrim, was drowned in Fall creek, near Huntsville.
In 1860, James Shuman, was killed by the falling of a limb, three miles north of Pendleton.
In 1854, a plot was made to rob Benjamin Snodgrass, a wealthy citizen of Huntsville, who had a large amount of gold in his house. It was arranged to burn Abel Jonson's barn to attract attention while they plundered the house. The plot was discovered before the time arrived. John Jones, a very respectabte man apparently, was implicated, and others whose names I failed to get.
In 1873, Elizabeth Crowel, of Adams township, cut her throat with a razor. She, however, recovered.
On July 4th, 1874, water was let into the hydraulic canal, near Chesterfield.
In the year 1855, Kiser, Hill, and Alford started the first foundry at Anderson.
In 1850, Jackson and Holaway started the marble or stone «cuttery at Anderson.
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In 1872, the depot at Anderson was burned. A man by the name of Walters was arrested, tried, and sentenced to the State Prison. On his way there he eluded the vigilance of Sheriff' Ross, jumped off the train and escaped.
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